点击查看原文：Making the most of halftime in the locker rooms during an NBA game
Making the most of halftime in the locker rooms during an NBA game
Halftime is the best time to fire up that murder mystery podcast.
Whenever I had a job that only provides a half hour of lunch break, the first thing I do is check my phone, go to the restroom, call my mom, watch some film, and maybe eat a snack. I’m basically Kevin Durant on Twitter. I make adjustments, strategize my next moves for the second half of the shift, watch the clip of Al Pacino’s speech in Any Given Sunday, and then go out and stray from my job duties until it’s time to clock out.
And that is why I’ll never be a Boston Celtic (nor will Kevin Durant, who will mostly likely finish his career as a Rocket or a Supersonic when the NBA inevitably expands again). NBA players only get 15 minutes for their break at their job. That’s barely enough time to go to the restroom and watch that speech in Any Given Sunday seven times.
You know what Tim Duncan did during halftime of a game in the NBA Finals? He played with his kids in the tunnel and almost took Danny Green’s knee out when the latter tripped over one of Duncan’s kids trying to get back into the locker room after hanging back for a halftime interview—DURING THE NBA FINALS.
Basically no matter what job you have, when it comes to break time, it’s YOUR time–not your employer’s time. Imagine taking a vape break when the Spurs are down 20 at half, and Coach Popovich is trying to talk strategy with you: “Sorry coach, this is my personal time. I’ll worry about the Laker’s trapezoid offense when I’m on the clock.”
In all seriousness, 15 minutes to take a breather, talking strategy with coaches, treating your aching body with a trainer, or even just mentally decomposing (or decompressing, whichever) are all important things to accomplish in such a small amount of time. It’s actually incredible what all can be accomplished in order to make sure a team holds onto a lead or mount an incredible second half to win a game.
In a recent interview, Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla provided some insight on what goes on inside an NBA locker room during halftime. Mazzulla indicated that depending on the game, how he approaches halftime depends on scenarios whether the offense or defense needs extra attention, the team or maybe an individual needs extra time to go over strategy, and ultimately prioritizing what area of the game needs to be addressed in the short time given that will help secure the win.
The host, former NFL wide receiver Julian Edelman, described his experience in the NFL where the team would break up into offense and defense to discuss strategy or even huddle all together to address issues or areas of improvement. His perspective was particularly interesting since NFL players exclusively play one side of the ball (unless you’re Deion Sanders or Travis Hunter) while NBA players have to worry about both sides of the ball (unless you’re [insert random NBA player who fans will vehemently insist doesn’t exert themselves on defense]).
From my perspective, from the comforts of my couch with one eye on a Spurs game and the other eye on Kevin Durant’s Twitter timeline on my phone, I cannot imagine how much goes on in such a short time frame. I surmise Gregg Popovich didn’t even have time to “go Serbian” on anyone. Rather, he probably delegated that job to Tim Duncan (assistant coach Tim Duncan, that is) and put all his energy into thinking of new ways to get onto the refs for missing calls. I kid, I kid. No one’s ever missed a call in an NBA game, ever.
If all else fails, you could always skip out early at halftime and watch WNBA star Kelsey Plum uncork a rocket into the nosebleeds at the arena formerly known as the AT&T Center.
When @ Kelseyplum10 helps out with t-shirt toss #SpursFamily pic.twitter.com/PBQ3ZSnhPY
— San Antonio Stars (@ SAStars) April 26, 2017
You can catch the clip of Mazzulla’s and Edleman’s interview below or here.